JavaScript User Prohibitions Are Like Content DRM, But Even Less Effective (teleread.com)

Robotech_Master writes: It always puzzles me whenever I run across a post somewhere that uses JavaScript to try to prevent me from copying and pasting text, or even viewing the source. These measures are simple enough to bypass just by disabling JavaScript in my browser. It seems like these measures are very similar to the DRM publishers insist on slapping onto e-books and movie discs—easy to defeat, but they just keep throwing them on anyway because they might inconvenience a few people.

Comments

Trivial to bypass

[PhantomHarlock]

I am a photographer, and I have no problem sharing this:

If you want to get around the image obfuscation used by most photo sharing sites and more and more news sites, open up firefox, and go to view -> page style -> no style. That usually gives you the actual image displayed somewhere in the resulting page. No plugins needed.

If you want to better ensure your name stays with an image, watermark it, and add meta-data. Depending on how annoying the watermark is, someone could take the time to paint it out, and meta data is trivial to strip. As the saying goes, if you can see it, you can take it. If you're that worried about it, don't show it to anyone.

Re:Trivial to bypass

[Anonymous Coward]

I've used DigiMarc for years as a way to invisibly watermark images. The only time I've had to use this was someone linking to images on my website, using my bandwidth. I changed the pics the links he pointed to, to random 4chan memes. He then threatened to sue, and claimed ownership of my images. Well, a DMCA takedown notice sent to his ISP and the ISP above him did the job. I then change my web code to only let people with a Referer header from my site view the pictures (primitive, but deters stuff), and moved on.

Re:Trivial to bypass

[thegarbz]

I like Flickr's attempt at blocking the image. If I want to download an image in Chrome I normally right click the image and hit S on the keyboard. Then save it somewhere. If a Flickr image is marked as download disabled and I right click an image in Chrome and click S I still get given a familiar save as dialogue. Except this time since Chrome doesn't think I clicked on an image it downloads the page. .... with the image at every available resolution. Just sorting the resulting folder by size gives the image.

This isn't even a wilful bypass, it's an accidental bypass.

Using shift key

[ajyand]

Some of the UI restrictions can be evaded just by pressing a special key like "shift" or "ctrl" while using the mouse and it does not require to disable javascript. I was so frustrated once that I copied the entire text from the page and posted it as a comment to tell them look, I can copy and paste.

might inconvenience a few people?

[fred911]

I would venture to say that it inconveniences more than a few, the majority of whom have no idea there is an alternative. Typically Joe Sixpack is clueless a click bait victim and the bread and butter of 90% of content sellers.

Besides, Janice in accounting don't give a fuck!

Yep...

[SharpFang]

Sometimes they don't even notice.

There was this site with "lessons" in using some API or library. There were code examples. And if you tried to select and copy, to paste an example into a compiler, a dialog would pop up telling you that the content is copyrighted and you're not allowed to copy it.

And at the bottom of the page was a survey, "What can I do to improve these lessons?"

I filled it out, with my email and a sarcastic comment about the copy restriction - that maybe forcing people to retype the examples isn't the best way of teaching. The owner of the site wrote me with a solemn apology, informing me that she didn't even notice the (dis)functionality was in place, and that it just got installed with the CMS and she didn't disable it because she didn't know it was there...

So... whoops?